Monday, October 27, 2014

I'd like to introduce Christine Verstraete and her character, Becca.

Hey folks. I hope things have been well with you. Today I had the honor of interviewing the talented Christine Verstraete. Her character Becca and my bud Bob also had a bit of an interview. I enjoyed it, Bob had a blast too. Without further ado, I turn things over to Christine.

Becca Herrera Hayes is the 16-year-old protagonist from GIRL Z: My
Life as a Teenage Zombie. She finds her life changed when her cousin
comes home, and via an accidental scratch, turns her into a part-zombie. Now
she has to cope with a weird diet and changes no teenager wants to go through. As
she struggles to cope with her new life, she’s searching for her lost mother
with her other cousin/BFF Carm while hoping she’ll find something to stop a
full transformation… before it’s too late.

Bob: What is it like being only half- zombie? Do you feel
ostracized by those around you for it?

Becca: Sometimes. A lot of people don’t understand. I tried
going back to school. Bad idea. It was the worst, well, the second worst day of
my life. Even the adults were mean. Luckily my family and friends are there for
me.

Bob: Having good friends can get you through anything. What are your plans for the future?

Becca: I’d like to go back to school. I wanted to be a TV
broadcaster. Maybe I’ll be able to do that yet, I hope. My boyfriend, Gabe,
says I can do anything. He’s nice that way.

Bob: I'm glad you have someone who is supportive like that, it's definitely important. What has it been like for you since you found out?

Bob: I completely understand that. I deal with a lot of strange. How many battles have you fought against the Zs?

Becca: A pretty lot. I’ve had to protect my cousin since
she’s well, not too good at the fighting stuff, but she’s getting better. She’s
been there for me so I look out for her, even if we only started out with
poisoned paintballs and BB guns. So far it’s worked okay.

Bob: I have a horde that has become my family like that. Now I have to ask you something very serious; if you only had one ice cream flavor to eat forever,
what would you pick and why? Yes, I like to ask the hard hitting questions.
These are the ones that are important, to me.

Becca: Gosh, I wish. I haven’t tried ice cream again though
my aunt makes a pretty good frozen protein pop. You should try them.

Bob: What do you miss most about your life as it was before?

Becca: Real food. Not having spots to cover up. Wearing
green. (I can’t anymore; it makes my skin look even grayer and greener. If you
were a girl you’d understand.)

Bob: Thanks for coming by to talk a little bit about your world and what things are like for you. You know my horde and I will support you any way we can.

Christine: Why not? Ha. I’ve always liked monsters and this
is a fun, different way to explore the world of horror.

Jaime: Which character of yours, through all your stories,
is your favorite? (I know it's a bit like asking a parent to choose their
favorite child, but I'm evil like that. *grin*)

Christine: I do like Becca. She’s spunky, fun, and has a
sense of humor which helps when you go from being a normal 16-year-old to becoming
a part-zombie with all kinds of weird quirks…

Jaime: What will Becca have to face in the future?

Christine: I’m thinking she’ll be more mature and
established, but may face new relationship problems and maybe even a chance to
go back to being more near-normal—or not.

Jaime: Can you explain a bit about how Becca became part
zombie?

Christine: Her other cousin was changing… and scratches her
by accident when he comes home. He went to work in a lab doing, as his sister
says, “who knows what” as “he’s not the most responsible” of guys. I’m working
on a short story on his experiences, too.

Jaime: If you had to pick only one of these two to read
which would it be, Zom-poc or Zom-com?

Christine: Why not both? I think humor fits in everywhere.
The “tears of a clown” kind of thing. When you’re not scared to death, you have
to find something to laugh about or go crazy, right? I admit both have their
place and are equally fun to read.

Jaime: Will you tell us a bit about some of your upcoming
work?

Christine: I just finished an entirely different, more adult
zombie book. It’s got lots more gore and zombie fighting, plus a historic time
period and centered around a real-life crime. It was absolutely fun to write.
I’m sending it around now and can’t wait to share news and what it’s about!

The other
three, Mama, Papa and Sister Zombie, clung to the car, their shrieks and
screeches getting louder as they fought to gain entrance. Maybe it was sick,
but I couldn’t resist. I took aim with the paintball gun and squeezed the
trigger. Pop-pop-pop. They landed in
an arc, hitting each in turn. The paintball sizzled, the neon poison spreading
across the one creature’s back. The second ball splat on the arm of Mama Z, who
puller her hair and screeched before she fell. The third Z turned its rotten
face my way and hissed like a snake, its rot-pocked tongue wiggled at me,
before it, too, fell into the pile.